A Glimpse into the Mysterious World of Mayan and Ladino Traditional Birth Attendants´ in Guatemala.

Introduction:

This first article presents the Mayan and Ladino Traditional Birth Attendants´ in the Macro context of Guatemala. We describe the current situation of the Traditional Birth Attendants´ within the frame of the Public Health problems in Guatemala.

Further on we will publish articles with more specific contents related do the complex world of the Guatemalan Mayan and Ladino Traditional Birth Attendants´. Their mysteries, mission, vision, their heritage of the Maya culture, Maya traditional medicine and practices, as healers, as leaders and as a link to the modern world. We will describe the problems of the Guatemalan Mayan and Ladino Traditional Birth Attendants´ and their ability to survive the complex political situations of the 35 year civil war in Guatemala. We will tell their stories and experiences with their patients, life and death situations, how they save lives under the most adverse situations and their immense capacity for human compassion and thirst to learn more to help the mothers and baby's that they have under their care.